Cheerful Columbia Catalonian Crowned with King Juan
Carlos I Prize of Economics

By Serena LongleyColumbia Daily
Spectator

January 25, 2005

The Spanish tabloids have already exposed Professor Xavier
Sala-i-Martin’s glamorous lifestyle, featuring photographs of him dining
with the likes of Angelina Jolie and Gwyenth Paltrow. Now, the Bank of
Spain has joined the craze by awarding Sala-I-Martin the Premio Juan
Carlos I de Economía for his work.

But on campus, Xavier—“pronounced Shah-bee-ay: The King of Iran, the
second letter of the alphabet, then the first letter of the alphabet,” as
he explains at the beginning of each semester—is better known for his
entertaining lectures and flashy wardrobe than for his work at the top of
the discipline.

In addition to being honored as the preeminent economist of Spain and
Latin America, the Columbia professor received $95,000 from the King and
Queen of Spain. His students said that Sala-i-Martin was flattered by the
praise of his work, especially since it came from the temporary occupiers
of his home country, Catalonia. According to his Web site, the monetary
award went to UMBELE, a charitable foundation dedicated to encouraging
education and development in Africa. Sala-i-Martin founded the foundation
early last year.

Sala-i-Martin’s assessment that global poverty and inequality has
fallen substantially since the 1980’s disagrees with the more pessimistic
figures of economists at the World Bank. Professor Sala-i-Martin’s model
was calculated largely from national accounts, and while the World Bank
drew most of its numbers from household surveys, Sala-i-Martin also
factored in national populations in order to measure how many people,
rather than how much nations, are impoverished.

According to Donald Davis, chair of the economics department, Xavier’s
approach has fueled a trend from telling the stories of countries to
telling the stories of individuals. “Once [Xavier] said it, it seems
obvious ... and now people are definitely paying attention” said
Davis.

Studying macroeconomics with Professor Sala-i-Martin has been a
memorable experience for many of his students.

“His class was a lot different than any class I’ve taken at Columbia”
said Helam Gebremariam, CC ’07. His non-text based approach—it made
economic sense not to require a book—to teaching economics pulls through,
she said.

“Xavier makes his case, he makes it clear and no one disagrees with him
in class because he’s an intelligent man and I respect him for that” said
Gebremariam.

Sala-i-Martin is famous for his broad and bright spectrum of blazers in
class and ties featuring everything from a yellow smiley face to the seven
dwarves. Prospective economics major John Frager, CC ’07, remembered a
class in which Professor Sala-I-Martin lectured between a giant set of
parenthesis he had drawn on the chalkboard while discussing relevant
microeconomic matters in order to emphasize that the information was
non-compulsory to his macroeconomics class.

“My favorite thing about Xavier is that while being funny, he presents
the material well,” Frager said. “By integrating the information with
humor he is very effective in helping you remember the joke, and the
material.”

Sala-i-Martin’s efforts with UMBELE mimic his accomplishments as a
researcher and a teacher in being untraditional and innovative. The
organization attempts to alleviate poverty in Africa through both long and
short-term hope for struggling Africans. One initiative pays students for
attending school, exemplifying the foundation’s goal to help Africans help
themselves.

Presently, Sala-i-Martin is somewhere between Tanzania, where he worked
with missions and schools that UMBELE is considering funding, and
Switzerland, where he will attend the annual meeting of the World Economic
Forum in Davos as the senior economic advisor.